Dungeon Categorisation

There are only two categories to declare in this form.

Safe or Destruction.

Section A;

A dungeon is deemed to be safe, once it has a) been thoroughly examined by a Categorisation Expert and been confirmed to have no monsters over the threat of a four-man party and b) been deemed raidable by the local Lord.

Any dungeon that is safe to enter will have guards posted out front on the orders of the local Lord. Their job is to take a non-negiotiable sum from anyone who enters. Any items or treasures found inside are property of the adventurer but will be bought for a nominal sum by either the guards posted outside or the closest administrative building in the nearest town or city.

Section B;

A dungeon that has been sentenced to destruction, which is more likely as destruction sentences have more factors than that of its regulated counterpart, will have a squad assembled and then assessed by the Lord and Categorisation Expert to see whether they have to either a) kill the monster and then destroy the core, or b) Bypass the creature if possible, destroy the core and then return to kill the weakened monster on the way out.

Reasons for destruction include, but are not limited to; any dungeon found possessing a single monster that is stronger than a four-man raiding party, or capable of killing a level 80 warrior in one on one combat; a dungeon found creating or secreting any deadly toxins, or food and water sources, that are hazardous to life; any dungeon that has made a home with a volcano, or similar fire affiliated lands, as no one appreciates the birth of a Fire Dragon; any dungeon capable of producing a man-eating beast that is a master of disguise, known as a Mimic; any dungeon that is within 10 miles of a city, or major town, that has monsters with levels above that of the city's own residents.

There are many more cases for destruction but each Lord employs his own Categorisation Expert and after the report has been filed, ultimately, the residing Lord is the one tasked with the official decision of what will happen to the dungeon.

Anyone who enters a dungeon that has not been categorised may find themselves in front of the local Lord, for the plunder of riches found upon his land. Lords are not known to take kindly to people plundering from dungeons which they have no knowledge or control over and especially the ones where they earn no revenue.

An Official Document on Dungeon Categories by Awast Attime 1951.

Hehe.

Zoom, zoom.

Zoom, zoom.

After the meal that Ali prepared had come to an abrupt end, the Rogues were given orders to sleep. They were told that gathering/scouting parties would be established on a rotating basis once they had awakened and were well-rested. A long term strategy will be decided later, once I've choosen a direction to take my dungeon.

Trixie and her pack were sent off to the temporary location of the Wolves' Den, whilst Zen and Ang opted to sleep outside the Box of Worship. I wonder why they didn't choose to sleep in a tent, then realise that I'm not likely to rain on anyone and feel silly over the idea that I just entertained.

I know what can cheer me up though.

Zoom, zoom.

Zoom, zoom

I spent the time that my Rogues were sleeping, dashing around between rooms and tunnels. Speeding back and forth between my entrance and the end of my second floor without a care in the world. I hadn't realised it until I had acquired the Manifestation skill, earning the ability to be able to freely move around and view the world again, but being a Dungeon Core is a very 2D existence. Everything is monitored through images in a screen like view, giving them a moving picture type of feel. It's a very solitary state of existence to say the least. Unable to touch or feel, unable to speak and worst of all unable to move.

It's a good job I don't get itchy.

Time flew by as I got lost in the joy of movement. Accustoming myself to my new form and finally enjoying my life the best I can. In my new form, I'm able to be absorbed by the dungeon before re-depositing myself anywhere I want in any room or tunnel on any floor I choose. Realistically, I'm just returning to my dungeon overview mode then restarting manifestation somewhere else after I hit the wall. But it doesn't cost DP and it looks cool as hell so it's a win.

I was hoping to turn into a human, but obviously, that didn't happen, at least I can talk to my monsters now rather than having to rely only on my will. Even though it carries all my feelings and thoughts within it, there's nothing like declaring you have just entered a room with a loud voice.

Four hours later, I have to stop playing with myself as I need to spend points before I reach my limit.

Let's see what we can do this time.

I'm sure I'm nearly Level 11.

Dungeon Core Abi Level 10:

106/110 XP until next level

2 Floors

16 Rooms

18 Tunnels

35 Monsters

64 Traps

325/200 DP Available

Willing my status up confirms my thoughts and shows how much spending money I have. Not that I expect it to go far. It's way too easy to hit zero within a few minutes as I have found out recently.

I begin my purchases with monsters and choose ten of the new cave bats. This comes with a price tag of 50DP which I find acceptable. I wanted the upgrade for another Mini-Boss and will use the low-level bats as extra eyes to keep watch over the dungeon.

Hehehe, how ingenious of me.

They are exactly what you expect Bats to look like. Small eyes state out from muzzle-like faces and large pointy ears sit atop their head. Dark-brown fur covers each body and a light pink, membranous skin makes-up their wings. They have small-clawed feet, perfect for hanging from any surface.

After placing a bat in every room after my entrance, it leaves two rooms on the first floor without a set of eyes. I'm confident the Boss Room doesn't need one and after checking the new bat upgrade I unlocked, I'm happy to place it before Veris giving the room not only eyes, but defence and a feature as well.

A new Monster has been unlocked:

Blood Sucking Shadow Bat: 10DP

This monster preys upon enemies in complete darkness and work best in large groups

For every other Blood Sucking Shadow Bat present gain a 5% boost to all stats

When shrouded in darkness all attributes are increased by 25%

If exposed to light all attributes will be decreased by 10%

I purchase ten of the new Bats and place them just before Veris' Room, making this the first purchase of multiple second-tiers I have performed. It also opens up my first third-tier monster.

A new Monster has been unlocked:

Bat of Sorrow: 20DP

A strange Bat that feels remorse for its victims this however does not stop it from choosing to take more victims

For every other Bat of Sorrow present gain a 10% boost to all stats

When shrouded in darkness all attributes are increased by 50%

This bat suffers no negative effects from sunlight

They cost me more than the second floor of the Tavern did. Even though I have some distant and illusionary ideal of a Rogues' Town where adventures don't kill my monsters, you can never put a price on safety.

The Blood Sucking Bats have long black fur instead of the brown like their predecessor and red membranous wingspan. They're actually quite large for Bats and are at least two-foot tall, making them the largest I have ever seen. They have beady red eyes and their appendages are even sharper than the first ten.

I confirm the now familiar pop ups and change the feature of the room to a cave. This one is more likely to be called the Mini-Bosses room as there are ten of them. I continue adding to the room by placing a Large Darkness Cluster on the ceiling, one in the centre of both walls and two more above both doors. I'm not finished yet though continuing my spending with two Wooden Doors and another idea and ten more new monsters to help boost the latest additions of my ranks by making the darkness even darker, adding to defence.

I place Weak Darkness Elementals in each corner of the room and let the other six wander the floor randomly. They look just like me, but black. It's really strange in a way, it's as though I'm looking at myself but not. So much for defence but they definitely make it darker so my Bats will be boosted.

A new monster has been unlocked:

Darkness Elemental: 20DP

Creates more dark mana than the weaker version and has a wider range of skills

Not much to go on with the description though.

Finishing the room, I swap the tunnel between here and the Wonderful Womb of Web with the Shady Tunnel that has the Poisonous Gas traps in it. This costs nothing, which is fantastic for me as it was an expensive room. One that I can actually call complete unless I ever want to add to it in the future.

I shall call it 'The Bat Cave'.

While I can now not fault the variety of monsters, nor the progression of your dungeon, I can at least say that your sense of naming could do with being a little more tactful.

Don't talk to me about naming things.

When the system gets her shit together, then so shall I.

Fair point.

Anyway, it only cost me 230DP.

Ha, I could only dream of saying that before.

Aww crap.

I wanted to do more than just one room and I haven't even bought a single Slime yet. These points just don't go far enough.

Or maybe I got too zoned in with the Bat Cave and spent too much? Never mind, I'll receive more later and I've still got 107 left for now. I'll put this into my second-floor pushing on with moving my Core further away from my entrance.

Dreaming of a cute Slime room, I continue the pattern making continuous left turns and long stretching corridors. Sometimes they head down, declining on an angle, to make sure they don't run into a previously set tunnel. I scatter a few small rooms in to make up the count for floor requirements until I am almost out of DP.

Me, what do I have left to do now on this floor to unlock the next one?

Requirements for the next Floor:

A Boss is required for the Second Floor

Oh.

How many Rooms and Tunnels did I need this time?

Not as many as you placed.

Yeah, I did just keep going, spiralling down and down.

The good news is that I only need one more room for the Boss to go in. The bad news is that I only have 8DP left after placing eighteen new tunnels and five small rooms. But I have nowhere else to be and I have all the time in the world so I don't mind exploring my body whilst I wait.

4 more hours pass by and the first light of morning shines through my entrance. Ang and Zen are already up and are praying outside the Box of Worship. Waiting to see if anyone wishes to join them.

Sorry to break it to you guys but I doubt you will get any believers around here, not in the middle of nowhere. I also don't think the other monsters care for prayer, but then again I wasn't even feeding them, so what do I know?

I managed to keep myself occupied by zoomin' around and by using Examine. Also watching everyone sleep around has left me feeling a little sour. I really want to sleep too, but I'm scared that I'll see a repeat of Kal and Anya, or potentially oversleeping again, so I'm reluctant to try it.

Hmph.

My Rogues are starting to stir, showing signs that they'll wake soon. Talia is already up and is tending to her establishment. Ali is also awake at the Camp Grounds. I float towards her, with minimal noise this time, to offer her food to make the others breakfast. I also give her extra for later on. All we have is Boar Meat and vegetables. Still, everyone was impressed with her food last night. It even earned her a few cooking skills in the process so hopefully she should be able to make something different for them.

With Ali off to make breakfast at the Tavern, I proceed with spending more built-up points from Barry. Out of everything I placed in the early hours of the morning, I didn't actually earn the XP required to reach Level 11, but this time I certainly will.

My first purchase should do it for me.

The Shop of Secrets:

40DP

A place to bring wares for sale that would be best sold without others learning of their existence and equally a location to acquire that which you cannot find elsewhere for almost modest prices

Any third party transaction is subject to a 5% finder's fee

Requires 2 Rogues to operate successfully

Awards:

4 XP

This may inspire merchant-type people to trade and do business with me. It is also a step in the potentially-misguided direction that I'm attempting to take.

I gain 4 XP from the building, which is more of a wooden stall, and a small one at that. It has a tiny selection of loot items, that I am currently able to create myself, that are the sole wares of this feature. This shop will have to acquire better loot to live up to that description. I place it just after Rogues' Corner to keep the themed features running straight.

Doing this allows me to reach my next level up.At the same time, I wonder what size room I would be able to place in the space that runs beside my rooms.

Dungeon Core Abi has reached Level 11:

DP has been increased by 40

A new monster has been unlocked:

Stone Golem: 75DP

New features have been unlocked:

Filing Hut: 80DP

Rusty Steel Dagger: 4DP

Yes, that's what I'm talking about. Double the DP and a Golem. Can I get a hallelujah? I could even afford to upgrade all my Rogues' daggers now. The cost of that dagger is a lot cheaper than the 40 points a steel sword costs. This weapon is even their preferred type.

Best level up ever.

Then again, if my Stone Golem is so cheap to summon, then there's a good chance it's at least 6 evolutions behind a Mythril Golem of Barry's calibre and nowhere near as strong. That mean's they will not be good diggers and I don't want to waste the 75DP just to find out that I'm correct.

Filing Hut: 80DP

A place for the storage of documents that Rogues may need if they were ever to enquire about them in the first place

Requires 2 Rogues to operate successfully

Reward:

8 XP

I think the system knows she's rattling me. I also believe that she's doing it on purpose too as the new building is nothing that I have need for right now either. Once again it has a ridiculous name and description too. It can wait to be placed at a later time when I'm flush with points, the same goes for the Stone Golem.

So my level up wasn't as great as I thought it was, but still, the double DP gain makes it all worth it and the dagger upgrade was good too.

Before I purchase employees for the shop, I continue my spending spree with a second building and this time it's a gambling spot.

Swindlers' Den: 40DP

With nothing to do and no one around the bandits that find themselves in employ here will literally bet on anything to cure their boredom

60% chance of winning any game played in this room

Requires two Con Men to operate successfully

Unlocks:

Con Men

Awards:

4 XP

"With nothing to do and no one around?"

"Are you serious!?"

Why are you shouting at your dungeon and who are you shouting at?

Nevermind, Me.

I'll be fine.

I'm pretty sure that's not how the system described this building before though.

I accept my 4 XP from the new building and summon two female Rogues and two Con Men, who once again look like actual human men.

Maybe I'll be able to summon a big variety of people one day?

They could call me Dungeon Town Abi.

The two Con Men are dressed in incredibly crumpled clothing, as though they have just gotten dressed from out of a suitcase. They are both wearing the same light blue creased shirt and have the same top two buttons undone, tucked in behind the belt holding up their pants. Their large arms help to reduce the number of crinkles in the shirts they wear, as does the rest of their overly muscled physique.

I thought these were Con Men, not bodybuilders?

Their pale khaki pants are also covered in crinkles but held tight by leg muscles that stretch the fabric almost to the point of splitting. Brown open-toe sandals decorate their feet. The only saving graces are their heads. Long, golden locks flow to their shoulders and they both have mesmerising blue eyes. Identical chiselled faces are extremely handsome and will keep their customers distracted.

It's a good job I create beautiful creatures or these two scruffily dressed Con Men would have been able to paint themselves green and pass each other off as Hobgoblins. They look like twins, ones that still get dressed by a mother who thinks matching clothing is cool and a father who has them running rigorous training sets all hours of the day.

My Rogues on the other hand look fine. Dressed all in black and covered by their cowl, they still emanate beauty even if it is only from the partially seen skin, hair and dazzling eyes.

Cute and collected, that's what they are.

I name one of the Con-Men Koniva and the other one Jack. Everybody knows a shady guy called Jack. For the Rogues, I go with Lara and Tara as I can't think of anything better than that on the spot.

I inform them of their roles before sending them off to Talia's for breakfast with everyone else.

Moving on, I create the boss room at the end of the second floor. I make it twice the size of Veris's room and add the free cave feature. Five large dark clusters, one for the ceiling, one above each door and one on each wall, shroud the room in darkness.

I summon the Bat of Sorrow for 20 DP, marking my first purchase of a tier-three monster, even if it is as cheap as the tier 2 Rogue line, and place it in the room I have just created. The system responds appropriately and shoots me a notification with a twist.

Optional Choice:

Make the Bat of Sorrow the Boss of the Second floor

Because of the low amount of monsters on this floor accepting this decision will summon 10 Cave Bats as minions for the Bat of Sorrow at half the original Dungeon Point cost

Yes/No?

That is amazing. It's good to know that because of the low amount of monsters on my second floor, the system has added more to my option. This must be one of those lucky occurrences for me. For half of the original DP cost as well, I would have to be foolish to turn down such a good offer, more bats means more eyes.

The latest addition to my ranks, the Bat of Sorrow, hovers in the middle of the room much like myself. She is awaiting her first command as is the system notification beside me. For a moment I find myself dazzled and stunned by another delightfully-beautiful monster.

This bat, if I can even call her that, looks more human than anything below either of the Con Men's heads. Her appearance is similar to the rest of my females. She has gorgeous purple eyes and extremely long purple hair which drapes all the way down her exposed human upper-body. Large violet wings are spread magnificently and attach to her back just behind the human arms that are clasped together in front of her large chest, not making me jealous in the slightest. The lower half of her body is covered in dark purple fur starting from her waist and stopping just above her clawed feet. A thin tail, the same colour as her fur, whips out gently from behind her.

After I've recovered from my shock and take her in as a whole, I decide to name her Violet because of the colour that makes up most of her being.

I accept the lingering notification and Violet shines brightly before returning to her normal colour, the Cave Bats that appear are already nested up on the ceiling. Violet appears to be a little more human-like after confirming the Boss notification. Her fur even seems to be a little shorter. There wasn't a notification about it though and I put that sight down to my imaginary eyes, ignoring it as she happily flies up to join the others.

Before I can do anything else, I actually am awarded a new notification.

A new monster has been unlocked:

Vampire Bat: 20DP

A new species?

That will probably level up into a beautiful Vampire and with the way some of these evolutions are going... I doubt I'm wrong.

Not that I have a need for more Bats at the moment.

With the notification received and remembered I place the stairwell to the third floor at the back of Violet's room, dropping myself down 4 DP. Willing it to be a forest with all my might, I watch as it magically takes shape. Leading further down into the earth it begins to create the first room of the third floor. Amazingly, it's the large forest I was just imagining.

It's bigger than any of my current rooms by far and is dominating the entire floor being created before me. Large trees are clustering together making certain parts of the room even darker beneath the shadows of nature. A small stream runs through the forest originating at the northwest wall and, shallow as it may be, it adds to the ambience of the room as a notable feature and manages to run the stretch of the forest all the way to the southeast corner. The stairwell from the floor above is set in the center of the room and features small viewing areas. Holes made in the wall from the earth itself, where people can gaze down on the beautiful sights of nature's embrace.

If I ever let anyone past Veris that is.

This will be the perfect place for the wolves to run around in and any other monsters that I manage to acquire like them.

Third Floor has been created:

5 XP Awarded

New features have been unlocked:

Large Wall Torch: 4DP

Wooden Wall: 10DP

Passive Skill Regeneration has reached Level 4:

DP has increased to a rate of 2.0 per hour

With all that finished and more new unlocks and upgrades to...

Aww crap, I did it again.

Stupid Abi!

I didn't even summon one single Slime!

How stupid can one Core be?

Next time, definitely. Definitely, next time.

Putting the cute factor aside before I start sniffling, I head to the Tavern using my super awesome new Skill Manifestation, even though I'm not talking to anyone. It's just a great feeling and works to soothe my mind, the small resistance as I move feels delightful to me. Also, Me told me that the more I level up the better my form will become, so that is definitely priority number one.

Will I ever be able to turn into a human again?

Before, I would have said no, but so far with you Abi I have no idea...

That sounds a little promising. 'No idea' is a better answer than 'no', right?

While I do not know how your manifestation may evolve I do know that you will never be truly human again, not in this life anyway. Even if you manage to manifest into the shape or form you desire, you will still be Dungeon Core Abi.

You're such a bummer sometimes, Me. Why can't you be more inspirational or show an air of mystique once in a while? Would it frazzle your programming to say something like 'No one knows what the future holds' or 'give it your best Abi, you can do it'!

I was just being truthful.

Leaving the conversation at that, as I know Me means well and I'm still a Core with a schedule, I get zoomin'.

With no DP left and the Rogues waking up, it's time to go discuss the scouting teams.

I hope this goes well.